Are there any teens on this site?

I ask this because I am a 17 year old frustrated by her old habits. It's summer and I can admit to having many idle days sitting in front of my computer, bored. So bored as I am, I often resort to FB (facebook), which as great as it CAN be, ends up becoming a forum for complaints, beauty affirmation, and simply things that aren't that fulfilling.

Are there any teens on this site that share the same disappointment. I wish FB was more of a place where I could share my ideas with friends...

That's why I love this site, but I just have to know how many teens are cruising around this site?

Aug 1 2012:
This story sounds horribly familiar for me. I am 17, I'm half way through summer and I already feel I've wasted far too much time on Facebook or Youtube. I suppose we are just looking for something to do that will kill time and requires no effort. Given the chance to do anything we choose to do not very much at all. Its almost quite sad that in the summer in which I have time to make plans and do things, I'm sat in front of my computer screen looking at teenage melodrama unfolding live on Facebook.

So you can imagine my relief at finding TED. The kind of place where people come together to share ideas and knowledge, not just cheap laughs or drama in comments. Where intelligence is celebrated and its users all seem to have a genuine interest in their world. I couldn't agree more with Dejay: This has reaffirmed my faith in humanity. We are the future of world and if there are more like i see in these conversation, people with a passion for knowledge and learning, then the future is indeed bright. People of TED I salute you.

Aug 2 2012:
Totally agree with you, my friends think its wierd to like to hear talks, and often tell me I am too inteligent to handle so this didnt only reafirm my faith in humanity, it also did with my faith in my self.

Jul 15 2012:
Hey hey hey :)
I'm 17 years young and reading all these comments from like-minded, intelligent, resolute souls has boosted by hope on humanity and my mood so thank y'all for that!
You know this world really is putting too many distractions (social networking sites, jersey shore etc) for young teens, and the rapidly growing materialistic world is changing and advancing so fast that I think sometimes all we can do is fight to keep up.
But stop for a moment, and think, if these external forces around you do not withhold enough intellectual, meaningful quality to stimulate your mind, then you naturally seek, and attract things that do.
We can't expect everyone in the world to be like that, but the main thing is, in this time of internet, we have the ability and resources to come together, to find like-minded people to make a difference. It is a revolution of a global community, a learning revolution!
We may be a minority, but we have the ability to come together, WORK together and to make a difference!
So thank you TED, and thank you 'nature's: law of attraction' for bringing me to minds like myself.
And thank y'all for existing ^_^
I think the next step, is joining forces, working in harmony for a definite goal & purpose.

Jul 12 2012:
Hi Koreen, my name is Sophie and I am also a frustrated 17 year old and although my frustration doesn't stem directly from FB as I am not on the site, I feel keenly the lack of informed, intelligent, stimulating conversation among teens. With all the social communication outlets available to our generation (texting, FB, twitter, YouTube, tumble etc.) our conversations have become more focused on trivial matters and not our impact on the future.

Now I'm not saying that all talk of celebrity behavior, Internet trends, teen social life and the like is bad, I merely mean that it should not be the sole topic of conversation. I have observed that conversation among my friends and others face to face and over the Internet focuses on what we are fed by the media, advertising and what we observe on the Internet and TV. These conversations not only lack substance but also can become mean spirited and close-minded leaving me, like you, with an unfulfilled feeling. I find that most of the intelligent discussions I have with people my own age are the result of a class lecture or of my own instigation.

I am relatively new to this site but not as new to the material on here. I am on my school’s speech and debate team and I saw another student give Ken Robinson’s speech. I think TED is an amazing idea that renews my faith in humanity I only wish one, they had more talks on empathy and two there were more people my age on here to share with. Judging from the small number of comments, there are indeed precious few teens here, considering this is the internet and most teens spend large amounts of time on the internet. I wish there was a FB for foreword thinking teens, for those teens that want to have TED-esque conversations without the distraction (because believe me I completely understand the insane internet time hole, YouTube being my warp of choice) and let down of trying to converse with or ignore those who want to have a different type of conversation.

Aug 2 2012:
I loved that expression: unfulfilled feeling... Im chilean and I dont speak english very good. But though, I felt identificated with every word you said, its like you talked and taught me how to express everything that makes me, me. Im 14 and really different to others, in this exact moment a friend of mine came here and looked at me as if I was a genious in extintion, she doesnt know these page but she understood immediatly that I had nothing to do in here. I wonderr of you could answer me this question: Am I more intelligent that my friends? ... they make me feel like I am, and Im scared of it

Jul 7 2012:
There are quite a number of teens here, you will find, who converse in a way that one wouldn't recognize their age. There are others who pose questions that identify them as teens in the sense that they ask foreward looking questions about university or something like that or they offer a perspective in which they identify themselves as teens. An example is that there is a middle schooler participating in the featured discussion about bullying, offering his own strategies on the school ground.

I agree...there are many teens participating in TED discussion, and we would not know they were teens if they didn't tell us, because they are insightful, very intelligent and aware.....AWESOME!!! I'm very impressed with the teens I have interacted with...... Fonkou, Rob (I know you're not a teen, but not that far away) and I've seen Dejay "dancing" around TED. I'm very impressed with the enthusiasm of these young people, and looking forward to more discussion. There are a LOT more teens interacting on TED, and I LOVE it!!!

Aug 6 2012:
Hello.
I am 18 years old as well. I understand your feeling of isolation from your age group, as well as the developing (for lack of a better term) arrogance.

It's difficult. The rest of our age group, heck, even the world, seems to be fluttering about aimlessly. Precious few people seem willing to talk in depth about anything. Don't despair though, they're out there. You'll find them, though you may have to seek them out. They can become some of the most wonderful friends you'll ever meet. They will help you reach new levels of understanding and development.

A word of caution though; beware that feeling of superiority. You are special, and likely more intelligent than many of your friends. Don't look down at them though. Every individual, no matter how frivolous or uninspired, has something to teach. They have feelings, emotions, and thoughts as well. Treat them with kindness and empathy. Do your best to understand them, and why they are who they are. Learn from them, and never belittle them. And if you can, try to coax them to grow a little. Never force it, but gently touch upon it.

Good luck to you all in your endeavors. I hope that someday I have the chance to meet some of you in person.

Aug 2 2012:
Hey, I am 14 and Im so grateful I saw this conversation before it ended up in 4 days, 18 hours and 38 minutes. I thought I was the only strange girl in this whole world that liked things besides facebook or instagram. I watch every week the new talks that appear and get impressed of the amazing people that stands on that scenary every day, I just want to be one of them. Your comment sounded extremely familiar to me and in some way I felt Im not alone, somewhere, thousands of kilometers from me there are teenagers who feel wierd for liking their dad´s talks app. Im chilean.

Aug 2 2012:
Ignacia,
You are not alone, and it's ok to be considered "strange" by some people, if that means you are really exploring the life experience. I've been "strange" for a very long time, and I'm loving it!!! Welcome to TED:>)

BTW, I don't even know what "instagram" is....that's how "strange" I am....LOL:>)

Jul 7 2012:
I am a 19 year old who only recently came upon this site. Unfortunately though I don't think that I really share the disappointment of being bored, especially when there are so many things to contemplate about and learn about.

I don't know how many teens view sites such as this, and though at times it may not feel like very many, there are certainly more than we think. Many people may visit sites and watch videos, perhaps even with some regularity, but not necessarily comment. In fact, that's how I myself was for the most part, for various reasons. I only know of one person that is about my age who watches these videos, and only because I wanted to share a video with him, otherwise I wouldn't have known.

I only happened across this forum because I wandered on to "Ken Robinson's claim that school kills creativity" video. I'm very interested in finding ways to improve the current school system in the US or to perhaps enforce an entirely different system altogether. I value learning, and knowledge, and I believe that people can become better overall if we learn the interconnections of all things and learn about countless subjects in interdisciplinary ways. To view subjects as separate and unrelated is a folly. That's just one of the many reasons though that I'm on this site.

If you don't mind my asking, outside of boredom, you said that you love this site and it seems to give you satisfaction; why do you think that is? What is it that you hope to accomplish by coming to such a site? Because in doesn't seem to me that it's just a treatment for boredom, though that may be a contributing factor.

Aug 1 2012:
I'm 18 and I was originally attracted to this website after watching a category of TED videos called "Smart Laughs" on Netflix. I greatly enjoyed it and valued the witty humor while at the same time learning something new.

To respond to your question: What is it that you hope to accomplish by coming to such a site? I would say it's to grow my mind by listening to smart people sharing their knowledge, creative insights, and point of view. I'm hoping to get my mind in "motion," which means occupying my head with REAL world problems and not insignificant teenage drama.

I believe that many teenagers have a greater mental and creative capacity than that which they are given credit for and I think that to channel this into something fairly useless in the long run (social networking) is a huge waste of human potential.

TED is basically an inspiration to go into the world and invent some ingenious ideas of my own :)

Aug 1 2012:
Hey, I'm 16 and I was recently introduced to this website through my grandparents. I don't have much to add to this conversation besides myself as a statistic: one more teen enjoying ted. I couldn't agree more with the opinions of Robin, Dejay, and others, though I would like to ask one more question, possibly an ignorant one from simply not spending enough time on this website. Is it possible to connect/chat with other members in a fashion alike to facebook's messaging/chat system? If ted is really the intellectual's book of faces, wouldn't it be nice to be able to create online friendships such as the ones (despite their transience) founded through facebook? Just a thought, since I'm as interested in the members of ted as the fascinating lectures posted here.
Regards, Chris. (And message me if it is a possibility-I don't know the limits of this site)

Go to your profile...."edit profile"....you will see an option...."who can contact you"....if you choose "everyone" (or whatever it says), then other members of TED can contact you through the TED e-mail system. Check out my profile...see above my photo, it says "send Colleen an e-mail"? You simply have to choose that option under your own profile:>) Welcome to TED and have fun:>)

Aug 1 2012:
I think if you are genuinely interested in knowledge and mental growth than you will unconsciously attract people and situations that complement your personality and temperament. However, in the event that someone really doesn't have many "outlets" for their mind or people to share their ideas with, they can look forward to attending college where people tend to attract others like themselves and then if you really are an intellectual, you will likely meet other like minded people.

Aug 6 2012:
Hi I'm 13 and I love this site too;)
Yeah i also want to share my ideas to friends(teens)
I felt in this talk there are many teens cruising around this site, but I can't find Koreans(yeah im korean,,,)

I'm in this site to show my ideas, and see many people's idea all around the world(teens to adults).

Aug 6 2012:
I'm 14 and I love this site! There are so many great people with so many great ideas. When I'm bored, I come here and watch talks about real, meaningful topics. I wouldn't know about FB as I've never been on it, but it seems like a total time-waster. I'm a homeschooler, so I don't really have to deal with all that teenage drama. Most of my friends are really down to earth, intelligent people. It's still nice to know that there are so many like-minded teens out there.

Aug 3 2012:
Hi. I'm 19 years old and I am from a small country in south-eastern Europe (Balkans) called Bosnia and Herzegovina. I often visit this website, and the main reason I do so is because I share most of the opinions with people here, and for those whom I don't, I respect theirs.
Also, I enjoy seeing variety of thoughts. I first started coming here because I feel I lack something important, because I want to do something interesting but I don't have the ground knowledge nor the idea I could pursue... And the reason I am commenting here is because I share the same opinion with Sir Ken Robinson for a long period of time.
I was a Math Olympian, and because of that I had a privilege to enroll in some aspects of creative learning, I often skipped school (for various competitions, and preparations) and that's one of the greatest things that could happen to me, because I did what I loved and could do more creative labor, rather than the mechanical one our educational system preaches. Because of that, I had always encouraged peers to do what they love and to not be afraid of making mistakes. But in the community we are now, other, mainly opposite things are encouraged, and that's what always gets me down.
Sometimes I think that our minds are becoming more and more perverted, because we embrace and value only material and completely wrong ideas and pursue wrong causes, and the values, the universal values which were always (rationally of course) encouraged, are now stomped and considered wrong, and the people who think that way are getting marked.
I also agree with you, and am frustrated by social networks becoming necessities. I don't feel the urge to say why Facebook is a waste of time, because all of us know this. It's sad when we get caught up in this and we start caring so much what others think, we try to be good with everyone, and start becoming as others want us to be. Above all, we lose a lot of the precious time we could use to self-improve, create and really enjoy!

YES, it is SO hard being young and liking stuff that not other people like. Sometimes it feels so hard live in a world of barbarians who discuss matters that I'm not interested in. But finally - salvation! Teenagers who are like me! We truly are a special, better generation. At least, the ones of us who can rub two brain cells together are. I totally (xoxo) feel your pain.

Aug 2 2012:
This may sound like a silly idea but why not ask TED to setup a lobby just for your age range that way you can have discussions that you guys think are important to your age ranges but it's only open to you guys,a sort of private area,it doesn't mean that you can't cruise the other conversations,it just means new scanners might want to ease in?

Jul 30 2012:
You're not alone! I'm 14.
Don't feel so bad about regaining bad habits over the summer. I'm sure everyone else is just like you.
The summer is great in that it gives us time to do things.
SO. MUCH. TIME.
Im pretty sure every teen on here can agree that at the beginning of summer we make plans to never be bored and waste all that precious time we want during the school year. But of course, some time in the beginning of summer, that all falls to pieces. So we resort to the internet. And most of us resort to facebook because everyone pretty much has one and 'surely someone out there has something to say, right?'
When in reality every kid on there is just like you- at least in that they're bored to tears.
One website filled with the bored wall posts of every bored kid out there.
Stimulating, right?
Even when it's not summer, Facebook is still a waste or time. The majority of my 'friends' on facebook are people I hardly know. The only thing we've got in common is we go to the same school. The good thing about TED is you can seek out your interests, bring your friends into the community, and share your ideas with people you don't know in the community.
Actually, I think a lot of websites are like that. Like youtube, or tumblr...
In theory, Facebook is supposed to be like that too, but I think part of the reason why it's so dull is because you're surrounded by people that you only partially know. You feel obligated to accept their friend requests because you have to live with them, you send friend requests in return because you want to be active on the site.
And everyone is afraid to go past the surface in their personalities because they're surrounded by people they only vaguely know.
On other sites, the state of being anonymous allows people to open up and be interesting because the internet doesn't care what your opinion on facebook is. Subtly insulting you facebook friends might rub someone the wrong way on facebook though. And then you have to talk to them later.

Aug 2 2012:
On Facebook, you are not allowed to open up and be interesting because you don't want to insult anyone (or look like an idiot). Perfect illustration of Sir Ken Robinson's "If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original" quote. FB is terrible, it will swallow our souls! The solution is easy, however: go outside.

Jul 17 2012:
Then I guess I'm similar to you. The average things kids at my school talk about don't really interest me at all and seems to just be repetitive. It seems like all anybody cares about is video games and making disgusting jokes all the time. Not to mention the fact that everybody tries to act "gangster". It really is sad to watch this generation and my fellow student's go down the drain for such stupid reasons. Although, most of you are 15 or older and I'm only 13 so I probably don't qualify for this conversation.

Aug 2 2012:
I am only 14 and starting loving TED when I was twelve. Im also tired of my classmates conversations, just fashion and movie stars and everyone tries to act as if they were better than the other. I often think there must be a topic revolution so they just stop talking about superficial stuff, but yeah it wont happen so meanwhile I will feel myself confortable with who I am and the most of all, be part of these amazing teenagers that we all are... There´s people like me everywhere, thats a huge relief.

Aug 2 2012:
It really is annoying isn't it. What's even worse, is that I see other intelligent kids get sucked into the whole "gangster" /"fashion" trend and they start to ruin themselves as well. I just tell myself that it's people like you and me that make the future work. That's what keeps me buy. I also want to go to Harvard someday, but that may be big wishing. Never the less, that hope is what keeps me curious and willing to learn. In case you were wondering, since you are Chilean, Harvard is the best, top of the line university in the United States. Who knows, maybe my wish will come true. I live in a small town, so there aren't to many people like me, but there are still some and that's also another factor that keeps me going.

Aug 3 2012:
It's best not to worry what other young people are wearing. Clothes and hair are typically not good predictors of what is happening between their ears.In terms of Harvard, kids come from small towns and big cities, from public schools and private schools...If that's your aim, just keep thinking, stay open-minded, and try not to get arrogant.

Jul 9 2012:
Yeah, i'm 14. I just like to get on the app sometimes to listen to intellectual conversations sometimes. My hope is to get into Harvard or Stanford or MIT. So i like to get on here and exercise my mind during the summer.

I get so bored of Facebook and Twitter, but I sort of find myself unconsciously switching back to it just to keep myself up to date.

That doesn't stop you from sharing your ideas on Facebook. If people have insightful comments or agree (or maybe disagree) they will say so. However, there is a sense of immaturity on Facebook and people just want to see gossip and trends etc.

Of course TED is a great place to display your ideas and receive insightful feedback. I'd love to hear some :)

If you get bored however, I recommend Stumbleupon. Great place to discover the Internet with your interests in mind.

Jul 30 2012:
Yeah, the summer does tend to be quite boring and FB doesn't really provide a respite from it for me as well- that's probably the reason I deleted my account. For me the summer tends to be quite boring, but not really all too different from regular life. At uni I also find the lack of intelligent conversation quite.... disturbing, the few groups that tend to have deeper thinkers also tend to be filled with very dull people, not stupid but dull. Its the same thing when I view comments on sites like YouTube, Reddit, forums, etc. quite intelligent people, but a lot of the same boring things. There isn't that feeling of originality, or ingenuity, besides what you gain from simple academic study, in their comments and discussions. Yeah, so back to the FB thing, like many of the previous posters: the idea of FB sounds like a great way too stave off boredom, but the reality isn't so (or at least as far as I have seen). Anyways as Deejay said "We may be a minority, but we have the ability to come together, WORK together and to make a difference!
So thank you TED, and thank you 'nature's: law of attraction' for bringing me to minds like myself.
And thank y'all for existing ^_^ ".

Jul 16 2012:
im like 13 and my dads like go to TED and im like OK wHERE IS HE and hes like IN THE INTERNET
me: OK WHATS THE wEBSITE and mydad leaves for some reason and then i ask my brother WHATS TEDS WEBSITE and hes like TED.com me: :/ im so stupid
anyway is this place for nerds? im on facebook but ya it gets boring cuz my friends are kind of CRAZY and most of them are koreans but i like crazy people so ya is this place for nerds i really dont know what to do here cuz my dad said go to this website and research so i cud get like 300 euros peer month to get the nokia lumia 900 XD i need to work hard :P god whatever what do we do here anyway

Jul 10 2012:
Hello,i am reza boushehri,i am also 17 years old and i am currently in dubai.I have kind of the same frustraions that you have,i am on my summer holidays too and i am constantly haunted by the fact that i am wasting my time,my precious 2 months free time.I've bought a couple of books realted to time-managment and procrastination as well some more about success(i you like reading,i suggest "think and grow rich"by Napolean Hill).Talking about this site,i also love it because i feel like something is being added to me,some precious idea and information,i just love the talks.Please let me know about any intresting idea or suggestion you have.Thank You.
Reza.

Jul 10 2012:
I have a different educational background. I went to a Steiner school, two actually, but that makes little difference. Look it up. I'm 17 and I'm now in a state school and I don't like it.

Specifically to me, I wanted to do further maths, but wasn't really allowed, and if I were allowed then I'd have to learn it ALL on my own. I genuinely have been held back, and I'm going to find it hard to catch up.

So I definitely think that you should be encouraged and, more importantly, shown what you can do, e.g. A level choices.

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